This is a podcast of a half hour radio show on WHRW 90.5 FM, "Atheists at the Table". A panel of atheists and theists talk about their views on recent news items and age old issues. Listen, live, at whrwfm.org, on Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Today’s Godless Wisdom comes to you from the mind of Alan Watts: --What guarantee is there that the five senses, taken together, do cover the whole of possible experience? There are gaps between the fingers; there are gaps between the senses. In these gaps is the darkness which hides the connection between things . . . The darkness is the source of our vague fears and anxieties, but also the home of the Gods. --

On to news!

First up we’ve got the Institute for Creation Research which has had the brilliant idea to go ahead and sue the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for not granting the creationist organization a state certificate authorizing them to offer master’s degrees in science education. The sixty-seven page complaint is apparently rife with such gems as, “discussions do not become empirical science simply because the discussions emit from the oral cavities of scientists,” and, “the big bang should not be confused with the great noise mentioned in 2nd Peter 3:10.” Oh, heavens no. Who would ever confuse those two? Oh Texas, you give us so much to laugh about.

Next we’ve got another lawsuit going on. The Riverside Church in Manhattan is suing to stop the hiring of a new minister at their church. The new preacher, Brad Braxton, would receive a total compensation of about $600,000 a year, approximately twice the previous pastor’s pay. The compensation is broken down into $250,000 as a base salary, a monthly housing allowance of $11,500, pension and life insurance, entertainment, travel, and professional development expenses, an equity allowance for the future purchase of a home, allowance for a full-time maid, and private school tuition for his 3 year old daughter. Damn, I knew I was in the wrong business. There are people studying their butts off to be doctors and lawyers when the real money’s in storytelling and fearmongering!

Continuing on, we’ve got a bunch of new converts from a revival church in the Congo jumped into a river to be baptized. 12 went under only a handful ever came back up. God sure does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?

In Singapore the Muslim leaders have begun to push for a balance of religious and secular education. Students begin the morning with prayers and move right into classes on chemistry, math, and English. And this goes for boys and girls alike. This move towards a Westernized education has helped Singaporean children, who come from the Islamic portion of the society, achieve a greater standing in society, some even going on to the national university.

Finally, we have a story from across the pond. The BBC will be accepting a prominent atheist onto its advising board to provide guidance on religious programming. Andrew Copson, of the British Humanist Association, will sit on the board and is expected to push for an increased participation from atheists on Radio 4’s religious slot, Thought for the Day. While a boon for secularists everywhere, Christians are getting their panties in a twist, complaining that this exacerbates the BBC’s abandonment of their Christian audience. Boo-hoo. You got the last 50 years of television, let the rest of us get a little air time.